Yoon attends groundbreaking ceremony for S-Oil petrochemical plant

• Published date: 09 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

President Yoon Suk Yeol attended the groundbreaking ceremony for a 9.3 trillion-won ($7 billion) petrochemical plant in the southeastern city of Ulsan on Thursday, hailing the project as a symbol of the friendship and trust between Korea and Saudi Arabia, his office said.

The "Shaheen project," named after the Arabic word for falcon, Saudi Arabia's national bird, aims to construct a large-scale petrochemical production facility at S-Oil's Onsan industrial complex in Ulsan, 307 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

S-Oil is Korea's No. 3 oil refiner in which Saudi Arabia's state-run oil giant, Saudi Aramco, holds the largest stake.

Yoon marked the start of the project, which was finalized during his meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Seoul last November, saying it is a key achievement of economic diplomacy between Korea and Saudi Arabia.

He also promised to drastically improve domestic regulations that do not meet global standards so as to help foreign investment firms freely conduct business in Korea, his office said.

The Shaheen project will build a steam cracking facility and other units to produce basic petrochemical feedstock, such as ethylene and naphtha, for plastics and other synthetic resins.

The project will create 17,000 jobs during peak construction and an added value to the economy worth about 3 trillion won, S-Oil said.

The project is S-Oil's second-phase petrochemical investment after spending $4 billion for the downstream expansion.

S-Oil, 63.4 percent owned by Aramco, has been bolstering its push for petrochemical and other green energy...